


Captivation

by poetroe



Category: She-Ra and the Princesses of Power (2018), She-Ra: Princess Of Power (1985)
Genre: Crack Treated Seriously, F/F, Fluff, Light Angst, Prison, Prisoner of War, and lonnie is her prison guard, i honestly have no clue what else to tag, lomista, merlonnie, mermista and lonnie are both so TIRED OF FIGHTING, mermista is captured by the horde, the summary is Bad but the work is Good i promise
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-04-23
Updated: 2019-04-23
Packaged: 2020-01-25 15:29:51
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,174
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18577312
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/poetroe/pseuds/poetroe
Summary: Mermista is captured by the Horde. Now she only has that stoic Horde soldier with the hazel eyes to talk to.





	Captivation

**Author's Note:**

> YALL ASKED SO YALL RECEIVE !!!! it's an honor to have written the very first fic for this ship (i think?) i hope i've done them justice, this was all written in one go and not beta-read, also it's late so fingers crossed there aren't any mistakes.
> 
> anyway i hope u guys enjoy and i also hope these two get canon interactions when s2 airs this week !!

When Mermista wakes up, her eyes fall on a faded metal ceiling, partly rusted and drenched in a faint green glow. She turns her head and faces the one wall of her cell that’s emitting that soft, lime green light. It’s giving her a headache. With a groan, Mermista sits upright on the hard metal bench and rubs at her forehead, sliding her hand down the side of it, down her temple. Her hand comes away with blood, and then she remembers.

_Her feet, dug deep in the mud, keeping her upright in a rush of Horde soldiers. Perfuma and Netossa are somewhere behind her, the other princesses and She-Ra scattered on the far sides of the battlefield. Mermista would rather be anywhere else, thinking briefly of Salineas and the way the Sea Gate glimmers at sunset. But she’s here, standing her ground alongside the Rebellion and it feels like this is a part of her destiny when she lets a wave crash down on a group of five, knocking them back across the field. Her arms are tired and the magic is taking its toll on her body. Maybe that’s why she doesn’t notice the Horde soldier that approaches from behind until the hairs on her neck stand upright. Maybe that’s why, by the time she’s turned around, she can’t avoid the attack. With a loud bang that has her seeing stars for a fraction of a second, Mermista falls unconscious._

The green light flickers and changes, and suddenly Mermista can look outside. Not that there’s much to see, apart from more cold metal and rows of cells like hers, situated in a circle around a big, metal plated column. There’s also a young Horde soldier, staring at her through the green forcefield. Mermista stares back, undeterred. After a moment of silence, the Horde girl presses some buttons on the panel on the other side of the wall, and steps through, inside Mermista’s cell. Wordlessly, she crouches down in front of Mermista and begins wiping away the blood above her temple.

Mermista keeps perfectly still, eyes forward and looking at nothing, back straight like it is during audiences and meetings. Even when the disinfectant stings her wound and there are tears prickling behind her eyes, she merely blinks. It’s only when the girl stands up to leave and Mermista realizes she’s about to be left alone again, that she says something.

“Who are you?” Her voice is soft and hoarse from disuse, but the soldier stops dead in her tracks, regardless. A pair of hazel eyes stare down at her, uncaring and unreadable.

“That’s classified.” With that, she steps back through the forcefield, slams a button on the panel, and Mermista’s green wall slides back into place.

***

Irregular meals, brought by that same Horde soldier, quickly become the highlights of Mermista’s boring, everlasting days in the Fright Zone prison. She sleeps most of the time, or counts all the mismatched bolts in the walls, and she can’t quite help learning the sound of the forcefield sliding into place by heart. It goes like this, usually: the wall makes way for the forcefield, the girl taps in some combination and hands her the tray through the opening that appears in the green wall of pure electricity. She stays there, watching as Mermista eats, before silently collecting the tray when she’s done. Then the wall comes back, effectively limiting her amount of human interaction for that day. But Mermista’s planning on breaking through that routine on her fourth day in her prison cell.

“Hello,” she says when the Horde girl comes by with her meal that morning. The girl stops dead in her tracks, obviously bewildered at Mermista suddenly addressing her.

“…Hey,” she answers. Her hand comes up to press the buttons on the control panel.

“So,” Mermista continues. The girl is looking at her, hand hovering uselessly in the air. “If I can’t know your name, what can I call you? You know.” A wry grimace plays around the corners of her mouth as she keeps looking at the Horde girl. “Since it looks like we’ll be seeing more of each other.” The girl rolls her hazel eyes as she taps the buttons on the control panel adeptly.

“My name is Lonnie,” she says as she hands Mermista the tray. Her grimace turns to a grin in face of this little victory as she grabs it.

“Nice to meet you, Lonnie,” Mermista mutters, putting the tray down on the metal bench, next to where she’s sitting. “I’m Mermista.” Then she grabs the plate and start eating, because Lonnie doesn’t look like she’s going to say anything more.

***

“Hey, Lonnie,” Mermista greets when her green wall makes way for the forcefield and the familiar face. “How are you? Been up to anything evil, lately?” It comes out dry and sarcastic, exactly like she intends it. Lonnie just snorts.

“Not really,” she mutters as she punches in the code in that same, well-known rhythm. Mermista’s sure she could replicate the movement perfectly, if she knew which buttons to press. “We’ve reached a truce with the Rebellion, for now,” Lonnie continues as she hands Mermista her food. “Though I doubt it’ll hold. Catra can’t sit still for too long.” It’s the most she’s spoken in the entire week that Mermista’s been here and the surprise must show on her face, because a small grin appears on Lonnie’s face. “What? Did you think I was a mute?” Mermista shrugs and smiles back.

“No, it’s just that your name used to be classified, and now you’re actually telling me about the state of things on the outside,” she answers. “It’s giving me whiplash.”

“Maybe I just think it’s fun to keep you on your toes,” Lonnie replies. Her light eyes are shining in the pale green fluorescent lights, but it’s the most natural expression Mermista has seen on her. A far cry from the stoic soldier she started out with.

“That’s okay,” Mermista answers with a grin, before taking a bite of her food. “You’re not the only one who has… _surprising_ features.” She can tell she’s got Lonnie’s attention from the way her eyes widen. The Horde soldier seems to reign in her curiosity, though, and remembers their respective places, like Mermista does.

“You’ll have to show me some other time,” she says, a glimpse of some bittersweet expression visible for just a moment before she closes the wall again, without even waiting for Mermista to finish her meal. The light green glow makes for much less pleasant company as Mermista eats, in silence, contemplating all the what-if’s running through her mind. What if she wasn’t born a princess? What if the Horde didn’t exist?

What if she and Lonnie had met under different circumstances?

***

The next day, it’s like nothing has happened. On the contrary, even. Mermista expects the silent Horde soldier and the tray with the plate of lukewarm food when the forcefield activates. What she doesn’t expect is a different rhythm to Lonnie’s operating the control panel, or for the girl who’s been her sole company this past week to the enter the cell, like she had done that first time. And like that first time, Mermista feels her body grow rigid.

“Relax,” Lonnie murmurs as she hands her the tray, then takes a seat next to her on the cold, metal bench. She slumps immediately, and maybe it’s because of the green electricity that has kept them apart, but it’s the first time Mermista notices the dark bags below Lonnie’s eyes.

“You okay?” she asks around a spoonful of food. Though she’s burning with a curiosity, a need to ask that seems misplaced or misguided, somehow, her eyes stay on the plate. A deep, tired sigh leaves Lonnie’s chest next to her.

“Yeah,” Lonnie answers, her voice tinier than Mermista has ever heard it. “Just tired. Do you mind if I sit here for a bit? I just…” Another sigh.

“Sure,” Mermista says. “I’ve got nowhere to be.” That brings a smile to Lonnie’s face, which in turn alleviates some of Mermista’s concern. After sitting in the silence with her Horde soldier for a little while, Mermista finishes her food. She expects Lonnie to move as soon as she’s done, to take her plate and her tray and to walk back out of the cell, like today could have happened in a dream. But she doesn’t.

“What did you mean?” she asks instead. “The other day, when you said that thing about having surprising features?”

“Oh.” Mermista smiles as she remembers. “Right. I can do magic.” Lonnie’s hazel eyes open comically wide and Mermista feels her grin spread out further across her face. “Don’t look so surprised. I’m a _princess_ , remember?” she mutters. Without waiting for a reaction from Lonnie, Mermista holds her hand above the glass of water on the tray. She stretches her fingers and, though she’s far away from the Pearl, she can feel the muscles in her hand tingling with the use of her magic. With no real effort at all, the water starts floating upwards, out of the glass and against her palm. Mermista turns closes her fingers around the water, turns her hand around and releases the water, which instantly slips through the cracks between her fingers and falls back on the tray.

“That’s impressive,” Lonnie says, eyes glued to Mermista’s closed fist. “Can you always just… do that?” Mermista nods and brings her hand back to her lap. “So why didn’t you use it to get out of here?” her keeper asks. Mermista can only shrug. It’s not like she has any preconceived motivation, or anything like that, it’s just…

“I’m tired of the war,” Mermista says as she leans her head back against the cold metal wall of her cell, and closes her eyes. “I’m tired of fighting. I don’t know. You’re right, I could’ve gotten out. But I don’t think I wanted to.” A deep breath finds its way out of her chest and suddenly the weight of it all seems to settle on Mermista’s shoulders. It’s partly the realization that, despite being stuck and sleeping most of her days away, she feels exhausted. Worn to the bone by these tensions, the battles, the responsibilities that she has towards her people and the Alliance. A warm hand closes around her wrist, shaking Mermista from her thoughts. She opens her eyes to Lonnie, sitting closer than ever before, unshed tears shining in her eyes.

“I feel the same way,” she whispers. “All my life, I’ve been training to fight in this _stupid_ war. And I—” The hand retreats as Lonnie seems to turn her thoughts back inwards, instead of telling them to Mermista. She takes the tray and stands up, her light brown eyes still locked with Mermista’s. “I don’t think I can take this much longer,” she says, something of a promise hiding in the tone of her voice, before she steps back outside, presses a button on the control panel and disappears again.

***

When Mermista wakes up, her eyes fall on that faded, rusty ceiling she’s grown accustomed to over the past two weeks. It’s not a dream that wakes her today, but the sound of buttons being pushed in rapid succession on the other side of the green wall.

Mermista sits up just as the wall makes way for the forcefield. Lonnie is behind it, like usual. What’s entirely unusual about this situation is the look on her face; she’s looking at Mermista intently, in a way that has the princess sit as still as when they first met.

“I’ve been thinking,” Lonnie starts, before losing either her nerve or her train of thought, and falling silent.

“Not too hard, I hope,” Mermista replies, trying for sarcastic but ending up sounding just hopeful and a little too invested. Lonnie glances at the control panel, then back at Mermista, then at the panel again. She sighs once and starts pressing buttons. Mermista can only watch quietly as the electric forcefield disappears entirely.

“Do you want to get out of here?” Lonnie asks, holding out a hand for Mermista to take.

It takes a second for Mermista to get over the surprise of being set free like this, but then a small smile glides over her features. “You must be committing some sort of treason,” she says, leaning back against the metal wall, still not quite believing the offer in front of her. Lonnie returns her smile.

“I am,” she answers. “But I’m beyond caring. So, what do you say?” A range of thoughts and emotions shoot through Mermista’s mind at that moment. Thoughts of war, thoughts of friendship, thoughts of possibility. There are a lot of things she could do, right now. There’s only one thing she honestly wants to do, though.

Mermista shrugs, grins, and pulls herself up from the cold, hard bench using Lonnie’s outstretched hand. “Sure,” she says, as her fingers close around the other girl’s hand, and don’t let go.

**Author's Note:**

> comments are also greatly appreciated!!


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